6 Months
by staliascleuce
Summary: Takes place in "Monster High" the book. The new girl kisses Deuce and he doesn't necessarily pull away. He goes to Cleo's house later on to apologize. (Cleuce is endgame here)
Cleo's teal, silk slip dress came up to her knees as she royally languished barefoot around her room.

The dark-haired Egyptian requested one hundred amber scented votives to be lit in her room once the sun set. She loved how her bedroom transformed into a temple. It made her feel more royal than usual. And that tended to make her feel better.

" _Ugh, are you seriously crying over that_ boy _? You could do_ sooo _much better. You're a de Nile! Mansters practically_ crawl _at our feet." Nefera dramatized when she waltzed in Cleo's room earlier- 'borrowing' her sister's jewels._

As Cleo pondered in her temple-like room, she decided that Nefera was partially right. Cleo could have any manster she wanted, she could even practice polygamy if she wished. But deep down she knew she only wanted Deuce. He was everything she wanted and more. Falling in love with him meant putting her guard down and trusting him with her heart. She was passionate when it came to him- even more than usual.

Her gut was still churned at the events of the earlier morning. Cleo wanted to cry as well as puke.

 _She watched with a crushing heart as Melo_ dork _attacked Deuce with her most likely chapped lips. Cleo's face felt hot and her royal lunch was creeping up her throat. Above all, Cleo was infuriated, it took all her will to stay put and watch, and feign the fact that she wasn't angry._

 _At first, the princess assumed that Deuce really was dazed and in shock. She assumed that Deuce really didn't enjoy the kiss and pushed the normie off. She was only outraged at Melodork who decided to grow some chest and kiss_ _ **her**_ _manster. But Spectra had informed her of everything in the next period. Much to Cleo's dismay, the blogger had filmed the kiss from a better angle and what was left of Cleo's hope was crushed into a million of pieces. Her heart had fallen into an abyss and the ground beneath her seemed to rumble._

When Miu-Miu— one of her felines— hissed, she supposed it was Nefera again, coming to bother her or perhaps boast about her latest modeling gig in Scaris. But when she looked to see what was causing all the fuss, she only saw the reason of why she was such a mess. And he stood at the gliding door of her two-story bedroom.

A hot rage filled Cleo's chest as she turned to face him with a hand on her jutted hip. "How did you get in here?" Her voice was steady and the words were spoken with royal attitude. She ordered Manu not to let any guests in! For _once_ in her life, Cleo wanted to be alone.

"My shades slipped off." He shrugged without a care in the world. Cleo scoffed and went back to tending to her jewels. Though, she couldn't deny that her heart fluttered a bit, she found his unruly behavior a bit charming.

"I came to see if you were alright," his voice was deep and his words tugged at her heart, but Cleo continued to ignore him. It was a moment before he spoke again.

"So, what you aren't talking to me now?" He sounded upset, sad even. "You've sent all my calls to voicemail and ignored all of my texts."

The royal sighed before facing him. She took two steps towards the gorgon and put her hands on her waist. "And why, Deuce, would I want to speak with you?"

She wanted to make it look like he was wasting her time. But she also wanted him to hold her close and tell her that kissing Melody was torture. That she was nothing compared to Cleo.

"She kissed me!" He protested jutting out his hands.

"And you kissed her back." Cleo snapped. She didn't have to yell but her voice echoed through her room. How dare he play the victim?! How dare he pretend that _he_ was the one in emotional pain?!

Deuce opened his mouth to speak but Cleo cut him off. "Don't lie to me Deuce." Her voice was steady as she stepped closer, hips swaying as she did so.

"I was there remember?" She asked almost sweetly. "I watched you kiss that wretched hag back." Cleo felt her eyes watering but she held them back. She cared a lot more about Deuce than she let on. She cared a lot more about that _kiss_ then she let on too. At school she was forced to appear nonchalant and pretend like Deuce kissing another girl meant nothing to her. She was forced to keep her head held higher than usual and waltz around like nothing was an issue.

The room was silent as Cleo and Deuce stared at each other. Well, as Cleo stared at her reflection. Deuce couldn't bare watch Cleo possibly break her façade. He hated seeing the ghoul upset period, but now she was upset because of him. And that hit him harder than anything else.

Cleo shifted her weight onto her other leg and checked her nails. "I heard her say sorry," She started, trying to keep her vision steady. "And what did you say?" She dropped her hand walking a little closer towards him.

"You said that you _weren't._ "

Deuce exhaled and slid his hand under his shades to rub his eyes. "Cleo, I'm sorry."

The royal 'humphed' and crossed her arms, looking away from him. "Do you seriously think _that's_ going to ease any of this?"

"Listen, I only kissed her back because you kissed Jackson!"

Cleo gasped, outraged. "How _dare_ you use that against me?!"

Deuce looked even more outraged. "How can I not?!"

"When one of us isn't in town, we _aren't_ exclusive. That's what we agreed on. _You_ were in Greece when I kissed him. Therefore, I have a pass." The princess was smug. _How was he going to reply to that?_ She had won.

"You're right." Deuce sighed, admitting to her accusation. "I… I just wanted you to know how it felt like to know that someone you _really_ liked, made out with someone else."

The princess looked away once more. "I think… it would be best… if we saw other monsters."

And that was when Deuce crossed the space in between them, taking her hands in his. "Cleo, no. I don't want to lose you." Her heart fluttered once more at his words. Clawd was never this expressive with his emotions.

"I want us to be exclusive. Just you and me. Cleo and Deuce."

She pondered for a moment.

"Cleo and Deuce?" She echoed, liking the way it sounded.

"Cleo and Deuce."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

The mummy bit her bottom lip and nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Deuce smiled before leaning in and letting their lips meet, igniting a spark that would start a beautiful and promising relationship.

Together for 6 months and exclusive starting now.


End file.
